Investor Presentaiton
117
123
smuggling. The tribunal refused to hear the counterclaims on the
grounds that they were not closely related to the investor's primary
claim.
124
125
However, some IIAS do impose obligations on investors. For
instance, Article 13 of the COMESA Investment Agreement (2007)
requires that investors and their investments "comply with all
applicable domestic measures of the Member State in which their
investment is made". A provision of this type, a rarity in IIAS,
does not create any new obligations but raises the investors' general
obligation to comply with national law to the international treaty
level. This, in turn, puts that obligation on an equal footing with the
obligations of the host State, and thereby gives a tribunal constituted
under the treaty jurisdiction over possible counterclaims.
To remove any uncertainty, the COMESA Agreement
additionally spells out the right of a State to bring counterclaims
123 Sergei Paushok et al. v. Mongolia, UNCITRAL Rules, Award on
Jurisdiction and Liability, 28 April 2011, para. 678.
124 The term "measure" is defined as "any legal, administrative, judicial or
policy decision that is taken by a Member State, directly relating to and
affecting an investment in its territory" (Article 1.10).
125
See also Article 10 of the SADC Protocol on Finance and Investment
(2006): "Foreign investors shall abide by the laws, regulations,
administrative guidelines and policies of the Host State"; Article 12 of
the Ghana Model BIT (2008): "Nationals and companies of one
Contracting Party in the territory of the other Contracting Party shall be
bound by the laws and regulations in force in the host State, including its
laws and regulations on labour, health and the environment." Recent
Indian BITs include a provision that goes in the same direction; Article
12(1) of the India-Nepal BIT (2011) and Article 15(1) of India-Slovenia
BIT (2011) state: "Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, all
investments shall be governed by the laws in force in the territory of the
Contracting Party in which such investments are made." The idea of
including investors' domestic-law obligations in the treaty scope was
explored in UNCTAD, 2012a, Policy Options for IIAS, Section 7.
UNCTAD Series on International Investment Agreements IIView entire presentation